Report to the Washington State Legislature COMPENSATION …

Report to the Washington State Legislature

COMPENSATION TECHNICAL WORKGROUP

April 2019

dcyf.

COMPENSATION TECHNICAL WORKGROUP REPORT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................2 Child Care Workforce Challenges ...............................................................................................2 Workforce Stability and Expansion..............................................................................................4 Workforce Data ...........................................................................................................................4 Recommendations and Implementation Strategies .....................................................................8 Professional Development for the Early Childhood Education Workforce..................................17 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................17 Appendix A: Proviso Language .................................................................................................18 Appendix B: Compensation Workgroup and Membership .........................................................19 Appendix C: Recommended Salary Scale and Budget Documentation.....................................21 Appendix D: State of Washington Early Childhood Program Specialist Classification ...............27 Appendix E: ERDC Compensation Data Sample Results..........................................................32 Appendix F: Early Childhood Education Focus Group Findings ................................................33 Appendix G: Appendix 12 and 13 from Cost of Quality Phase 2 Report ....................................38 Appendix H: Economic Opportunity Institute Employment Survey Summary.............................39

COMPENSATION TECHNICAL WORKGROUP MEMBERS Angela Abrams Tyler Bass John Burbank Gary Burris Kathy Goebel Sally Holloway Tony Hanson Lauren Hipp Kerrie Hurd Luc Jasmin Robin Lester Candy Lester Lois Martin Ryan Pricco Jessica Roach Jodi Wall Dave Wallace DCYF Support Staff: Anna Batie and Nicholas Wooten See Appendix B for full agency list

Report prepared on behalf of the workgroup by the Department of Children, Youth, and Families Angela Abrams, Professional Development Administrator

Release Date: April 2019

April 2019

dcyf.

COMPENSATION TECHNICAL WORKGROUP REPORT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In the 2017-2019 operating budget, the Legislature appropriated $5,000 to create a child care workforce development technical workgroup (Workgroup) and directed the Department of Early Learning (now the Department of Children, Youth, and Families, or DCYF) to convene a group consisting of 13 stakeholders to develop recommendations for the Legislature on how to:

1. Increase child care workforce wages 2. Reduce workforce turnover 3. Enable child care providers to recruit more qualified educators 4. Maintain the diversity of the current workforce

This report outlines the recommendations made by the Workgroup (see Appendix A).

Investing in high-quality early childhood education has proven to be one of the best investments the state can make, yielding a 13 percent annual return on investment.1 However, this return on investment is achieved only when early childhood education is of high quality. Teacher preparation is an essential component of high-quality early childhood education that leads to stronger child outcomes. Unfortunately, society's support of early childhood educators does not reflect this urgency:

? Washington's early childhood educators rank in the third percentile of occupational wages (below pet groomers).2

? Thirty-nine percent of Washington's early childhood educators rely on one or more sources of public assistance support programs, costing $34.7 million annually.2

? Washington's early childhood programs experience high staff turnover rates, which can negatively impact the continuity of care and child outcomes.

? Students who graduate from college with degrees in early childhood education have the lowest projected earnings of all college graduates.3

WORKGROUP RECOMMENDATIONS The Workgroup's recommendations are presented as a package to address the four priority areas of the report. The Workgroup concluded that funding only part of the recommendations will not have sufficient impact on all four areas for workforce stability.

Recommendation A: Early childhood educators receive a competitive compensation package comparable to K-3 educators. This includes A-1: Salary Scale and A-2: Compensation Package

Recommendation B: Early childhood educators have access to the state-sponsored substitute pool to provide classroom coverage when taking time off.

Recommendation C: Expand Working Connections Child Care (WCCC) eligibility to include parents who are enrolled in an early childhood education degree program and employment requirements are waived.

1 Research Summary: The Lifecycle Benefits of an Influential Early Childhood Program, Heckman Equation: 2 Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, University of California, Berkeley:

Washington.pdf 3 NPR, "It Doesn't Pay to be an Early Childhood Teacher":

be-an-early-childhood-teacher

April 2019

1

dcyf.

COMPENSATION TECHNICAL WORKGROUP REPORT

How the recommendations will benefit the workforce: Raising wages, supporting staff leave and providing access to subsidized child care for those seeking to enter the early childhood education workforce will:

? Attract new educators ? Sustain the diversity of the workforce ? Decrease turnover ? Professionalize the field of early childhood education and prepare for future growth

Implementing the above recommendations will also have a positive impact on school readiness and other desired child outcomes.

INTRODUCTION

Investing in school readiness and additional positive outcomes for children requires investing in the early childhood education workforce. Years of research and analysis demonstrate that investing in high-quality early childhood programs results in children being more likely to graduate from high school, attend college and earn a living wage, and less likely to engage in criminal activity as compared to children who do not have access to high-quality early childhood education.4

Early childhood educators' skills, knowledge and well-being are directly related to the quality of children's experiences in early learning programs, yet the system of preparing, supporting and compensating early childhood educators in the United States remains largely ineffective, inefficient and inequitable. A major goal of early childhood programs is to alleviate the effects of poverty for children, yet the early childhood education workforce continues to struggle against poverty.5

Research demonstrates a strong relationship between effective classroom practices and educational preparation. 6 The relationships between young children and their teachers are the cornerstone of such learning. Early childhood educators who have been prepared on par with K12 teacher standards are more effective in promoting school readiness and other positive outcomes. Despite this evidence, early childhood educators are usually poorly compensated and may be inadequately prepared.

CHILD CARE WORKFORCE CHALLENGES

Washington State became a national leader in 2015 by expanding high-quality early childhood education, passing the Early Start Act (ESA) which builds upon the state's Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS, Early Achievers) and other early childhood services. Among other things, the ESA requires all programs serving children receiving state subsidy to achieve certain minimum quality standards on a continuous improvement timeline.

In order to achieve the intended outcomes of the ESA, Washington must ensure its workforce is appropriately prepared and supported. Educator wages must be considered when examining the cost of quality and recognize that workforce competency is a key indicator of outcomes for

4 Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2015. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. 5 Whitebook, M., McClean, C., Austin, L.J.E., & Edwards, B. (2018. Early Childhood Workforce Index. Center for the Study of Child

Care Employment. 6 Whitebook,M (2014) Building a Skilled Teacher Workforce, Shared and Divergent Challenges in Early Care and Education and in

Grades K-12. Berkeley, CA: Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, University of California, Berkeley.

April 2019

2

dcyf.

COMPENSATION TECHNICAL WORKGROUP REPORT

children.7 The return on investment in early childhood programs is tied directly to the quality of those programs.

"Babies are considered less-than; sometimes people ask me why I am not becoming a `real teacher.'" ?Focus group participant, June 2018

"Society has their priorities screwed up; we pay our athletes so much and our teachers nothing. Our teachers are teaching our future." ?Focus group participant, June 2018

"I love being that difference in a child's life." ?Focus group participant, June 2018

Policy and program implementation around high-quality early childhood education need to address compensation and a supportive work environment for the workforce. Washington State must consider how to prioritize public investment to recognize and intentionally support this connection.

POVERTY WAGES FOSTER A RELIANCE ON PUBLIC ASSISTANCE Early childhood educators are underpaid for the skill and education needed to deliver highquality early childhood education. Currently, 40 percent of Washington's early childhood education workforce earns poverty-level wages and relies on public assistance to support their own families, creating a greater reliance on state funds that are allocated to public assistance and support programs. 2

"I had a coworker in Seattle who was homeless." ?Focus group participant, June 2018

"When I worked at a center, I had to work three jobs." ?Focus group participant, June 2018

Table 1: Washington State Median Annual Workforce Earnings8

7 8

April 2019

3

dcyf.

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download